Wednesday, February 15, 2012

"No ancient ruler inspired more legends than Julius Caesar. Under his leadership, Rome conquered territory throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, reaching the North Sea and conducting the first Roman invasion of Great Britain. Acclaimed author Bill Yenne charts the major events that shaped Caesar's leadership, his rise to power, and his crashing fall" More

A narrative history of the British Empire, one that avoids sweeping judgmental condemnation and instead sees the Empire for what it was: a series of local fiefdoms administered in varying degrees of competence or brutality by a cast of characters as outsized and eccentric as anything conjured by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil WarByPlatt, Stephen R.2012-02 - Knopf Publishing Group9780307271730Check Our Catalog

This narrative history of China's 19th-century Taiping Rebellion (which cost some 20 million lives) brims with unforgettable characters and vivid recreations of massive and sometimes gruesome battles--a riveting, sweeping, and intimate portrait of the largest civil war in history. …More

The only seas Venice ruled were the Mediterranean and Black, but it dominated European trade from 1000 to 1500, an achievement that owes much to its citizens' energy and freedom but mostly to their willingness to fight. …More

Beatty offers a highly original view of World War I, testing against fresh evidence the long-dominant assumption that it was inevitable. Beatty writes "My book draws a new map, uncovering paths to peace long buried under the avalanche of war."…More